Some news from Europe made me laugh last month:

The association of French mayors recently chose Laetitia Casta – one of those fashionably overpaid, pouty bags-o"-bones – as the supermodel for a bust of 'marianne", the symbol of French virtues.

But then, Leggy Laetitia incited media frenzy when French papers reported her to have taken up residence in London... to avoid the greedy hand of the French tax man.

Former Finance Minister Michel Charasse, treasurer of the Association of French Mayors, was beside himself. Sappristi! Casta's move was "desertion."

He was reported as sermonizing, "Laetitia Casta will find out soon enough that the price of real estate in London is very high, that rents are twice as high as in Paris, that if she is ill, she will not receive the same care in a British hospital as in a French hospital."

The conservatives speculated that the French would have to start building a wall to keep people from fleeing the French Socialist paradise.

With good reason. Because according to AP, France's tax burden reached a record 45.6 percent of gross domestic product last year.

In Europe, conservative and socialist governments alike have been levying taxes and spending like mobs of drunken sailors for decades. No matter where you go... Germany, France, Italy... people are forking over more than half of their incomes to insatiable bureaucracies – and are, for the most part, happy to do so: "At least the trains run on time."

(Incidentally, they said the same about Hitler, Franco, and Mussolini. Some things never change...)

From a European perspective, the United States seems to be a kind of tax haven. After all, Federal tax rates for most Americans range around 28-38%.

That's what I was thinking when Taipan's resident tax expert Charlie Wolpoff suggested we do an in-depth study of the Invisible Black Hole that can jack up the average American's tax rate by another 10-15%. He was talking about State Taxes. And not only those on income... but all the small, hidden fees, taxes, and contributions levied by your own elected officials in your own back yard.

The results were nothing short of stunning. With the obstinacy and unfailing accuracy of the accountant and the zeal of a crusader, Charlie compiled the one and only State Tax Report in existence, rating each and every state in the Union according to the insidious ways they squeeze money out of their residents.

Media reaction to this report has been equally surprising. In Tennessee and Wyoming, two of the least predatory states, academics, public servants, and mainstream media have latched on to Charlie's findings. But as if to illustrate how sick and corrupted the minds of public opinion makers have become, they spoke out not to celebrate their achievements in leaving more money in the pockets of their citizens... but as grounds for finally squeezing more money out of them by coming up with new or increased taxes!

If you consider moving within the United States or, like many European companies, are thinking about escaping confiscatory tax policies abroad, this report is a must-have. We've cut the price of US$79.95 back to $49.95 for members of the Taipan Group of products.

(We have enclosed a special article on the State Tax Report with the U.S. edition of Taipan. Our international friends can access this report by clicking here.

Cordially yours,

J. Christoph Amberger
Publisher, Taipan

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